The Turkistan region was formed

President Nursultan Nazarbayev has expressed his opinion related to the emergence of the Turkistan region, reports Akorda's official website.

"In accordance with Article 9 of the Law "On Administrative and Territorial Construction of the Kazakhstan's Republic", I have signed a Decree on the transfer of the status of the city of state importance to Shymkent and give the regional center to the city of Turkistan. The region is called the Turkistan region. By doing this kind of changes in structure, I believe that this historic document is aimed at promoting the prosperity of the region", - said President.

In this regard, the President mentioned that South Kazakhstan is a big region in terms of economic, transport and logistics, demographic potential of the country. Moreover, this year Shymkent has become one of the largest megacities in Kazakhstan. Particularly, in the years of independence Shymkent has been registered after Astana as a city with more than a million citizens.

"60% of industrial production in the region is concentrated in Shymkent. We know that the city is one of the leading trade, industrial and cultural centers in the country. Taking into consideration such opportunities of the city, I decided to give it the status of the republic. What is more, the center of the region will be transferred to Turkistan", - noted Nursultan Nazarbayev.